


The One Where Steve is Wee and Tony Throws an Ice Cream Party

by weesta



Series: Mini_Wrimo Fics and Drabbles [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, BAMF Clint Barton, Gen, Ice Cream, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Thor, Team Bonding, steve is wee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-27 01:18:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2673473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weesta/pseuds/weesta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve's a little overwhelmed by food choices so Tony throws a build-your-own sundae party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Where Steve is Wee and Tony Throws an Ice Cream Party

It all started because Steve was awed by the kitchen. Not only the kitchen itself which was pretty much the size of the apartment he’d grown up in, but the assortment of food contained in the fridge, cabinets and pantry. It was difficult for him to reconcile the amount of food choices with his experience. In fact, it was so overwhelming that he couldn’t make a choice at all. Instead of diving in to every over processed, sugar filled option available, he politely asked for a bread and butter sandwich. No amount of persuasion on Pepper’s part got him to change his mind. He just hopped off the stool with a “thank you, ma’am” and walked himself and his pathetically empty plate over to the table.

Tony wasn’t having it.

Later that night, after a meal of grilled chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and heavily buttered rolls thoughtfully planned by Pepper, Tony announced that he was taking care of dessert. He sent everyone away from the table and insisted that they take a walk around the tower to “work up an appetite” and “make room for dessert”. Everyone played along; Clint grumbled about how Steve wasn’t actually taking a walk because he was getting a ride on Thor’s shoulders. But in a move that was entirely unsurprising, Steve was on Clint’s shoulders by the time the group returned.

Tony was very pleased with Steve’s wide-eyed “Oh” when he took in the array of treats lined up on the island in the kitchen. Steve leaned forward with his arms crossed on the top of Barton’s head to get a better look.

Clint nodded his head in appreciation and rubbed his hands in anticipation. “Nice.”

The kitchen island had been transformed from plain working surface to an abundant display of every possible topping option for build-your-own sundae. Colorful plastic bowls held sprinkles (they were not “jimmies” no matter how loudly Barton argued his case), crushed chocolate candies (name brand, of course), nuts, gummy candies and assorted other dry ingredients. A second section of the counter held sauces – chocolate, strawberry, caramel. There was an area with assorted fresh fruit. And multiple whipped topping options. 

Tony was standing at the counter near the sink. He clapped his hands to get the attention of his audience. “So, this is how this works…” He gestured grandly to three commercial sized vats of ice cream beside him and started scooping ice cream as he spoke. “Everyone starts with a bowl of ice cream; I kept it simple, just the three basics – vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry - because obviously the fun comes from everything that goes on top.”

Tony passed a bowl of pink ice cream to Pepper. “Ladies first!” 

She gave him a _look_ and passed the strawberry ice cream back to him. He smirked and switched the offending bowl with a pre-scooped bowl of vanilla.

“Gotcha, didn’t I?” Tony said with a wink.

“About twelve percent,” Pepper said with a smile as she sailed past him and headed for the toppings. Steve sat up a little taller on Clint’s shoulders to watch.

Natasha accepted the bowl of strawberry ice cream and stepped next to Pepper. They began chatting as though the toppings were a matter of great interest. Natasha nodded toward Pepper’s bowl. “You put the sauce on first too?” she asked as she poured a liberal helping of strawberry sauce on her ice cream.

“Mmmm,” Pepper responded as she carefully covered every inch of visible ice cream in her bowl with chocolate sauce. “Always the sauce first. But then everything else I just toss on randomly.”

Steve watched avidly as Pepper and Natasha crafted their sundaes with deliberation. Natasha kept with her fruit theme – fresh berries and whipped cream. Pepper was more focused on chocolate, adding M&Ms, chocolate sprinkles and chocolate whipped cream. As the ladies neared the edge of the island where Clint was loitering with Steve, Steve piped up, “That looks real good, Miss Pepper.”

She grinned up at him. “And it tastes even better! It’s so much fun when you build it yourself.”

Pepper patted his leg encouragingly as she walked by and winked at Clint. Meanwhile, Tony continued to scoop ice cream.

Clint moved to the opposite side of the island so Steve had a good vantage point to observe the building, but it was close enough to start sampling the toppings. Idly Clint passed up a gummy bear to Steve while Bruce got to work on his sundae. 

“You don’t like a lot of stuff on your ice cream, Doctor Bruce?” Steve asked as Bruce bypassed everything except caramel and whipped cream.

“Not so much, Steve,” Bruce explained as he plunked a lone cherry on top of the skillfully crafted mountain of Redi-Whip. “I stick with the classics.”

Clint passed up a Swedish fish.

“What’s your flavor, Barton?” Tony asked from across the kitchen.

“Chocolate!” Clint passed up an Oreo to Steve.

“What about you, Steve?”

“I’d like vanilla, please.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” Tony proclaimed.

Steve leaned over a little to talk in Clint’s right ear. “Did I pick the wrong one?” he asked worried.

“No,” Clint said firmly as he chucked a jawbreaker at Tony’s head and hit him above his ear. Tony yelped and was ready to complain but stopped at a glare from Barton. “You did not pick the wrong one.”

“It’s what I usually get with my ma,” Steve explained.

“I enjoy the vanilla as well,” Thor stated as he stepped up to the island. “It combines well with so many of the topping options.”

Steve gaped as Thor added topping to his bowl with abandon. The Asgardian showed no hesitation and added a completely random assortment of toppings to the mix. Then he crowned it all with a healthy dose of whipped cream.

“Are you gonna eat all that?” Steve asked awed.

“Indeed, my friend, but I will wait until you are ready with yours as well.”

Stark approached with two bowls of ice cream; one for Clint and one for Steve. “Alright, you two are up next.”

Barton dragged a stool over for Steve to kneel on as he assessed his options. Barton added caramel and Cracker Jacks to his ice cream. Steve chose chocolate sauce, rainbow sprinkles and whipped cream. He was about to hop down when his eye was drawn to the bowl of Sour Patch Kids.

Clint saw the hesitation. He raised his eyebrows at the boy. Steve bit his lip considering. Then, instead of scooping a few of the candies onto his sundae he simply picked up the whole bowl and brought it with him to the table.

“Atta boy,” Clint approved.

Hands full, Steve clambered into the chair next to Thor at the table. His grin was delighted and his eyes sparkled with mischief. Steve and Thor clinked spoons and then both of them dove into their desserts.

Pepper smiled indulgently and then rose from the table. Tony leaned against the counter eating ice cream directly from the carton. She kissed him on the cheek. “You’re a softie, Mr. Stark.”

He leered suggestively, “Not when it counts, Ms. Potts.”

**Author's Note:**

> Another fun entry in this series - prompted by caffienekitty :)


End file.
